• Sealey Elementary School was established at 234 E.7tb Avenue in 1931, and by 1932, had the first school lunch room in the county, which was operated on a concession basis. The school was named after Romero Mitchell Sealey who served as Superintendent in Ft. Myers, Fla., in 1917. He was also State Superintendent of Secondary Education and Secretary of the Florida Education Association. In 1969, Sealey School was moved to 2815 Allen Road and became the Math and Science Magnet School for Leon County. 

    By the 1930’s, the number of students attending Leon High School overloaded the school and a new school was constructed by the WPA on West Tennessee Street, and completed in 1937. The new school was controversial as some people felt it would be too far out of town, too expensive ($500,000), and too large (the townspeople felt it would never be filled). Fifty-plus years later, due to the hard work of Student Government Senior, Lindsay Brown, Leon High school was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

    In 1931, the worldwide depression caused many out-of-school youths to be unable to find jobs or find part-time work. Mr. Lewis M. Lively donated two rooms in downtown Tallahassee over Fain Drug Company to start special business classes to meet the needs of these young people. The original equipment consisted of two typewriters and classes met when students could attend. When Xeon High School moved to its new location in 1937, Lively Vocational School took over the old Leon Building on Park Avenue. At that time it had one full-time and one half-time instructor for 52 students. In 2019, Lively Technical Center became Lively Technical College.

    Bond Elementary School was established in 1935, and named after the community where the school was located. The current structure was established in 2006.

    Kate Sullivan Elementary School opened its doors in 1948. The school was named in honor of Miss Kate Sullivan who was appointed in 1903, to serve as a teacher to the new Leon Graded and High School. She received her lifetime teacher’s certificate in 1937, and “Miss Kate” as she was affectionately known, taught elementary school and English classes at Leon High for most of her 47-year career. The Kate Sullivan School is still located at its original location on Miccosukee Road.

    In the 1950’s, the Leon County School Board established the Prince Murat School for exceptional children with an enrollment of seven teachers and 65 students. That school today is known as Gretchen Everhart School and serves students with intellectual disabilities ages three through 22. The school draws students from Leon and surrounding counties.

    By 1957, Five PTA’s had been organized in the County; the services of a Homebound Teacher was added to the growing County staff. Also in 1957 a Director of Pupil Assignment and Personnel came on board.

    The 1950s, saw the opening of four more elementary schools in Leon County. “Northwest Elementary,” school which included grades one through six became the John G. Riley Elementary School and opened in 1951. The school was named in honor of John Gilmore Riley who was an educator and leader in civic affairs. Mr. Riley had his first teaching job in Wakulla County in 1877, and became principal of the Lincoln Academy which was located at 428 W. Brevard Street in 1892. At Lincoln he served as Leon County’s first Black principal until his retirement in 1926.

    Hartsfield Elementary (1954) named for Frank S. Hartsfield, Sr. He was Superintendent of Leon County Schools from 1917-1936.

    In 1954, Leon County built a brick structure further east on Alabama Street and named it Griffin Junior High School. It remained predominately Black until desegregation in 1968-69. The original Griffin structure was demolished in the 1970s.

    Ruediger Elementary School opened its doors in 1955. Mrs. Lillian Cross Ruediger, for whom the school is named, served as Leon County Schools Elementary Supervisor from 1945-1951.

    In 1956, the last elementary school to open in the 1950’s was originally named “Southwest Elementary" and later renamed Pineview Elementary.

     

    Four junior high schools were established in the 1950’s. Elizabeth Cobb Junior High School (later to be called a middle school) opened in 1954. Elizabeth Cobb Junior High is located on Hillcrest Street and was named in honor of Miss Elizabeth Cobb who began her teaching career in 1915. She taught in both elementary and high school. She became principal of Caroline Brevard Elementary in 1931, and later became Supervisor of Leon County Schools in 1935.

    1955 saw the current location of Griffin School completed on Alabama Street. Griffin began in 1920, as a private boarding school for Blacks. In the years 1955-56 classes were offered for grades one through eight. During the late 1960s, Griffin was a high school serving grades 10-12. Beginning in the 1970’s Griffin became a Middle School for grades one through eight, and today is a Magnet School for Information Technology.

    In 1958, R. Frank Nims Junior High was completed. The school was named to honor Mr. R. Frank Nims who served as the assistant Principal of the original Lincoln High School under Cecil Walker and as Principal from 1955-1958. Mr. Nims was considered a well-respected educator and innovator.

    In 1959, Augusta Raa Junior High School was completed in order to help the County deal with the growing population of students. The school was named after Mrs. Augusta Raa who began her teaching career at age 17 before coming to Florida. She found her first teaching job at Ft. Braden School and later taught at Leon High from 1910 until her retirement. She served in many capacities at Leon High and was the first Florida teacher to retire under the provision of a state law that was passed when she was 70 years old.

    In 1954, the United States Supreme Court handed down the verdict of Brown v. Board of Education which ruled that segregated school systems were unconstitutional. However, “Leon County School Board officials gave no official opinion of the 1954 mandate until almost a year later.”

    It wasn’t until the 1960’s when several Black students chose to move to predominately White schools to pursue their education. These students were not forced to make the move to the White schools. Integration in Leon County was slow in taking root. Though a few Black students chose to go to all White schools, it wasn’t until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and new guidelines from HEW (Health, Education and Welfare) which threatened school districts who were dragging their feet on desegregation with the withdrawal of funding, that the Leon County School Board began to take a serious look at the HEW guidelines. In 1967, the Leon County School Board implemented a plan that specified that regardless of color, any student could attend any school in the District they wanted. 
Last Modified on November 9, 2022